Daily Inspiration: Meet Jim Hintzen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Hintzen.

Hi Jim, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

My Tai Chi story started when I took a Tai Chi class at the gym. I was pretty immediately hooked. But the instructor disappeared, and I spent TEN YEARS trying to find a class in my area. I finally found a great class in the park, the teacher was welcoming and we became friends and would often hang out after class. After about a year, I asked him if he could help me become a teacher. He said “Hmmm. Ask me again in two weeks.” So I waited eagerly and when we talked again, he said, “I’m actually moving to Hawaii with my girlfriend, and I’d like you to take over this class.” Wow!

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) this was in February 2020, when everyone was freaking out over the pandemic. Many weekends I would go to the park and practice on my own, patiently waiting for students to show up.

So I started teaching. Honestly, I probably wasn’t very good in the beginning. I would correct students and also try to teach them everything I knew in the first class. After awhile I got frustrated that my students would take a few classes but then not return. I decided to learn what I could about teaching Tai Chi. I found a great book and took the lessons to heart.

About 3 months later a Chinese lady came to my class and seemed to know what she was doing. She had studied with a Priest from a Temple in the Wudang Mountains in China where many people believe Tai Chi was created. She offered to be my teacher, and I took weekly lessons from here for over a year, until she moved to California. It was priceless information straight from the source that I might not have been able to get through a school.

I had made a simple but informative website, www.ahintofzen.com, and received a call one day. Asking me if I wanted to try out to be an instructor at an Optum Community Center. I did and they liked my Tai Chi and hired me. I’m still teaching there every Friday, and a student told me about another Optum Community Center, also close to me. I checked it out and did not like the way the instructor interacted with the students. I decided to plant a seed. When I submitted my next invoice, I casually mentioned that I would be interested in teaching that class if it every became available. I knew that instructor wouldn’t last, but I never spoke about that. Just put my interest in front of them. A few months later I received a call, started teaching there and tripled the attendance of the class in two weeks.

Next I received an email from someone who asked if I had ever done Push Hands. Which is sort of a soft sparring activity using the principles of Tai Chi. Well during the first session I felt like my brain had caught fire! It was an amazing revelation to see how what I had been practicing applied in real life. I learned so much that most people never get a chance to learn.

One of the students there mentioned a program at Dignity Health Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital. I called them and they said, “I can’t believe you called. We’ve been looking for months for someone and haven’t been able to find anyone. And now you just called out of the blue!” I did a trial class for them and they also hired me.

I practiced every day and still do – six years later. After a year or so, the 2nd Optum Center closed their doors, and I applied at the Christown YMCA. I did a trial class and they hired me right away. I now have 15 – 20 regular students that attend every class. They would like to add a third class, but I don’t have the time!

All these things came to me, I barely did any work to drum up these opportunities. I did put out the energy by practicing every day and trying to be the best teacher I can for my students, including researching and learning more about Tai Chi.

I now have 2 recovering cancer patients and 1 student with Parkinson’s. The cancer patients are noticing increased energy, balance, mobility and mood, and my Parkinson’s student used to fall down all the time and has not fallen once since she started Tai Chi with me. She is very excited to be able to stand on one leg again after not being able to for the last four years!

I put out the energy and these opportunities appeared as if by magic. I can’t say enough about Tai Chi and also Qigong, they’re so beneficial to our health that the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Health now recommend them highly. Several of my students have come up to me over the years and said, “You know, I just want to tell you that I feel so good after each class.” To me, Tai Chi and Qigong are systems which allow us to optimize ourselves physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally.

I teach 4 and 5 classes per week now and that’s how practicing Tai Chi at night in my living room turned into a paying part time job. It still amazes me to think of my journey from waiting for students to show up in the park to teaching 50 students per week!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In life we all face situations which we often think of as “good” or “bad.” One of the principles built into Tai Chi is non-judgement and staying calm and centered. So now I try not to judge things that happen to me. After all, something I think is the worst thing that could happen to me could often turn out to be a good thing down the road. They say a normal person judges events, but a spiritual warrior on thinks of events and situations as a challenge. It’s helped me become much more even tempered and grounded.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I currently work from home 40 hours per week, teach 4 to 5 Tai Chi classes a week and occasionally do dog sitting.

Pricing:

• YMCA Classes – Free (with Medicare)
• Optum Classes – (Free over 55)
• Dignity Health – Free to public
• At the Park – $10 per class

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ahintofzen.com
• Other: Meetup.com “Tai Chi at the Park”